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Old 06-08-2009, 09:46 PM   #21 (permalink)
 
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The lighting is really bad and these aren't the same angle, but here is what it looks like with two 17s on one side and two 15s on the other side.




Now for the 15s



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Old 06-08-2009, 09:51 PM   #22 (permalink)
 
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The difference between 17s and 15s on the rear (the 15" Brabus wheel/tire is the same size as the rear Passion wheel/tire, so I figure why not show what it'd look like if Brabus decided to follow the same tire size as a Passion).

15s...these 15s are going to be my snow tires, since to my knowledge they don't make snow tires for size 215/35-17.




17 X 7.5J @ 33 offset (These rear tires are super wide for 17s on a Smart. tbone28s custom aftermarket suspension on his front doesn't allow him to put anything wider than a 6" up front and Smart Madness uses a 6.5" wide wheel up front with a 195/40/17 tire (which that tire won't fit on a 7.5" wheel). You can't go any narrower tire wise for these Brabus 17s but you can put go much bigger tire profile & width, which would be interesting to see a bigger tire on the rear than the front. The front would have to stay 215/35/17 but you could go wider and taller sidewalls on the rear and/or use a spacer on the rear)


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Old 06-08-2009, 10:13 PM   #23 (permalink)
 
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Brabus - your pics are showing up as red x's for me
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Old 06-08-2009, 10:16 PM   #24 (permalink)
 
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Originally Posted by tbone28 View Post
Brabus - your pics are showing up as red x's for me
I uploaded them again using a different method.

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Old 06-08-2009, 11:52 PM   #25 (permalink)
 
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I've decided to put the quad 17s on the Brabus.

I want to put as small of a spacer up front as possible so I did some googling and it appears there are 5mm spacers for the Smart!

Eibach Wheel Spacer Bolt Pattern 3x112, Center Bore/Hub Dia. 57, Spacer Width 5mm, System 1 2008 - 2009 Smart Fortwo L3 1.0L Part#: 90.1.05.026.1

The above link says it fits the 2008-2009, yet doing a google with that part number I keep getting sites that say 2007. The bolt pattern on these links say 3x112 and I don't know the bolt pattern on the Smart yet.

90.1.05.026.1 - Google Product Search

As for why I'm not considering a narrower tire. The only narrower option of 205/35/17 tire (for a 7.5" wide wheel) AFAIK doesn't exist. 195s according to that calculator below won't fit, but there is a 205/40-17, YET 40 may be too tall for that Spring above the wheel.

Wheel / tire size calculator / comparer - WHEELSMASTER

Although this guy managed to put 7.5" wide using 195/45/17 tires on the front so maybe I can get away with a 205/40/17 or 195/40/17 tire? It would raise it 3mm closer to the spring. That's really close, so I'm looking at the spacer as the safe bet.

Murdered-out AMG Smart - Rims mocked up



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Old 06-09-2009, 10:14 AM   #26 (permalink)
 
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17 brabus wheels on front,

I have one question. What brand tires do you have, the factory Hankook or another brand. The reason I ask is that it was my car Baby Benz did the swap on. I was able to put a 3 mm spacer between the spring perch and side wall. The only difference I can figure is the tires are different. I also have changed the springs to the euro brabus springs, but this should not make any difference since I used the same Blisten struts. We drove the car around and put it through some hard turns and bumps and had not trouble. The tires never touched. I also plan to shave off the edge of the spring perch till it is flush with the spring. This will gain another 2mm min. I plan to order my new 17 rims for the rear this week and will us a 10 or 20mm spacer on rear along with a wider tire.
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Old 06-09-2009, 10:42 AM   #27 (permalink)
 
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I also have changed the springs to the euro brabus springs.
What's the difference with the euro springs? Lower? Stiffer? Both? Part number? source?
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Old 06-09-2009, 12:00 PM   #28 (permalink)
 
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I bought the springs/Struts from a smart dealer in Germany while I was over there and shipped them to my house. They have a slightly lower stance approx 15mm instead of 10mm. The ride is a little stiffer but not much. I will have to look at the spring and get the part number for you when I get a chance. They are a different number then the ones I replaced. The struts where the same part number as factory (Brabus? Blistein).Gasman

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Old 06-09-2009, 01:16 PM   #29 (permalink)
 
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Originally Posted by Brabus View Post
Now for the 15s

I'm probably one of the only people here who prefers the 15's front and back. To me, the 17's just look too large for the tiny Fortwo, and they don't leave much of a sidewall to absorb impacts or cushion the ride. Different strokes for different folks.
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Old 06-09-2009, 04:35 PM   #30 (permalink)
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gasman View Post
I have one question. What brand tires do you have, the factory Hankook or another brand. The reason I ask is that it was my car Baby Benz did the swap on. I was able to put a 3 mm spacer between the spring perch and side wall. The only difference I can figure is the tires are different. I also have changed the springs to the euro brabus springs, but this should not make any difference since I used the same Blisten struts. We drove the car around and put it through some hard turns and bumps and had not trouble. The tires never touched. I also plan to shave off the edge of the spring perch till it is flush with the spring. This will gain another 2mm min. I plan to order my new 17 rims for the rear this week and will us a 10 or 20mm spacer on rear along with a wider tire.
Thanks for the information! They are stock Hankooks.

Where did you get or where would I find a 3mm spacer for the spring perch? Do you think the 3mm spacer is necessary? I suspect if I ended up going with 205/40/17s on the front then that 3mm spacer would definitely be necessary.

I thought about the shaving of the perch, but then I thought warranty void and the replacement cost of these Brabus shocks are ridiculous. I guess if the 5mm wheel shim (spacer) isn't enough then I could go that route or get a 10mm shim.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Padawan View Post
I'm probably one of the only people here who prefers the 15's front and back. To me, the 17's just look too large for the tiny Fortwo, and they don't leave much of a sidewall to absorb impacts or cushion the ride. Different strokes for different folks.
Those will be my winter wheels, since they don't make snow tires for the 17s.

I actually like the ride a lot better in my Brabus than I do in my Passion, however I think that has to do with the elimination of the seesaw effect from the Passion suspension more than tires.

15s are great though if you want a touring feel. You can have a much higher side walls on than the stock 15" tires to give it an even more of a touring ride quality. Not to mention the tire lasting longer, better gas mileage and less chance of wheel damage. I like the quad 15s, too. I actually like the 17s rear and 15s front look, but this is really just me procrastinating from doing what I should be doing in life.

The 17s you can put wider tires and taller side walls on the rear. For the 17s front you are more limited with sidewall height.

Probably 205/40/17 would be ideal for the fronts and 225-245 wide on the rear, but for now I'll see how the Smart handles with the stock tires 215/35/17. It's clear though that it's better to have a more narrow tire in the front than the rear, but changing tires is on the bottom of my to-do list.

Last edited by Brabus; 06-09-2009 at 04:55 PM.
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